5 Of The Coolest Hoonigan Vehicles We Wouldn't Mind Taking For A Joy Ride

Hoonigan is best known for its Gymkhana series, where star rally driver Ken Block performed car stunts on closed public roads. The first Gymkhana video, released in 2008, featured a WRC-spec car performing wild stunts on an empty airfield. Since then, Block's team has released several Gymkhana videos, each showing more exciting stunts than the last.

There are 16 videos on Ken Block's Gymkhana Film Series playlist, with Gymkhana 7 and onwards published on Hoonigan's YouTube page. These videos show off the skills and finesse of Ken Block, as well as Travis Pastrana, who took over for Block as the Gymkhana driver in 2020 and 2022 in a Subaru STi.

Sadly, Ken Block died in 2023 after a snowmobile accident, and we don't have any news yet on the future of the Gymkhana series. Despite this, Hoonigan still actively posts videos on its YouTube channel, so we hope that Ken Block's legacy will continue with future Gymkhana episodes. Nevertheless, while we're waiting for Gymkhana's next installment (if there is going to be one), let's check out some of the coolest Hoonigan rides we'd love to take out for a spin.

The Gymkhana wasn't a film series yet during the first video — it was just a recording of a rally driver having fun in an empty airfield filled with tires, plastic bollards, and some barriers. One of the video's highlights was Block and the STi doing donuts around the director riding a Segway.

The video didn't have any special effects, nor did it have high production values. The fact that it was titled Ken Block Gymkhana Practice shows it was a practice run that his team happened to record instead of a highly choreographed shoot. Furthermore, the Subaru Impreza WRX STi wasn't exactly built for the Gymkhana videos we enjoy today. Although it had a high-power output and was built for a series of Gymkhana events, the original organizer dropped out.

Nevertheless, Ken Block went ahead and made a practice run in the airfield with his team, and they just started shooting. There were no big jumps or scenes of mayhem in the shoot, but one thing stood out—Ken Block's amazing driving skills. And with that, the legendary Gymkhana series was born on the four tires of the 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Most Gymkhana videos featured one sedan, coupe, or hot hatch — typical rides in motorsports — shot in one location. But 2018's Gymkhana 10 broke this tradition by featuring five different places—Lulea, Sweden; Detroit, Michigan; Guanajuato, Mexico; Los Angeles, California; and Shamrock, Texas—with five different rides. However, the most exciting change was the vehicle used for the fifth location: a 1977 Ford F-150 Hoonitruck based on the 6th-generation Ford F-150.

This is the first time the team used a truck in one of their Gymkhana videos, and seeing an F-150 with two turbos peeking out of its hood sliding around on Route 66 and driving under a colossal tractor is such a hoot. The Hoonitruck also made an appearance in China in 2019 when Block drove it up Tianmen Mountain Road, one of the world's most dangerous roads, located in Hunan, China, for Climbkhana Two.

The 1977 Ford F-150 Hoonitruck sports a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 that pushes out 914 hp at 7,400 rpm and 702 lb-ft of torque at 6,450 rpm to all four wheels via a six-speed transmission. This makes the Hoonitruck the most powerful vehicle in the Hoonigan stable, next to the 1,400 hp 1965 Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR used in the Climbkhana: Pikes Peak video.

Electrikhana and its sequel, Electrikhana 2, are unique in that they feature a bespoke electric car. Instead of building something based on a production vehicle, Audi worked with the Hoonigan team to create the one-off all-electric Audi S1 Hoonitron. The car's exterior is based on the iconic Audi Sport Quattro S1 that dominated Group B rally racing, but it's powered by Audi's e-tron technology found in Audi production and race cars.

The Audi S1 Hoonitron made its first outing in Las Vegas in 2022 for Electrikhana, and it was a different beast from what Ken Block is used to. According to Block, "[...] if you were to launch a regular race car, you gotta put it in gear, you gotta enter launch [mode], put it in stage mode. You need to sit in launch control for four to five seconds for the turbo to spool up, for the boost to build, and all that. So that's a process: it may only take five to ten seconds, but there's a process to it." But because the Hoonitron is an EV, you don't need to do any of that: you just mash the pedal, and you'll get instant torque.

The Hoonigan team also shot a second episode of Electrikhana in Mexico, featuring the same Audi S1 Hoonitron. Although Block's untimely death delayed the project's release, the Hoonigan team eventually showed his final masterpiece in December 2023 and made it a tribute to the life of an amazing and talented driver.

Although most of the cars we've discussed so far starred in Gymkhana videos, the Hoonigan Racing Division also has several other vehicles in their garage that we want to try out. The Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX featured in a Monster Energy video from 2014, showing Ken Block driving this high-performance pickup in the snow while riding on tank-style four tracks instead of tires.

The RaptorTRAX is the ultimate winter adventure vehicle, as it's capable of climbing steep slopes and even deep snow with no problems. Because of its track system, you also don't have to fear losing control of this truck while you're at the wheel, even if you're traveling at speed in slippery conditions.

Aside from its offroading prowess, it also gets several accessories that make it the ultimate winter camping truck: five roof-mounted lights, side and rear spotlights, a bumper-mounted light bar, a roof basket, bed-mounted seats, a snowboard rack, and, most importantly, a detachable hitch-mounted grill for barbecuing at the back of the truck after a day of adventure.

Although Ken Block is known for his driving prowess, he's also a family man and a friend to many. That's why he bought the 2017 Can-Am Maverick X3 MAX X RS with the Can-Am street legal kit—so he could use it as a daily driver for bringing his kids to school and mountain bike rides with his friends.

Despite being street-legal, it's still a capable off-road vehicle, powered by a 900cc three-cylinder turbo engine capable of producing 154 hp. While that number might not seem much, the Can-Am Maverick X3 MAX X weighs just 834.6 kg or 1,840 lbs, making it a light and nimble vehicle. It also has a bike rack at the back, allowing you to carry four mountain bikes, so everyone can enjoy riding.

The Can-Am Maverick X3 MAX X exemplifies the ultimate adventure lifestyle—an open-air cabin that seats four on a chassis that can go through the wilderness. If there's one thing most of us are qualified enough to drive, it would be this UTV, making it one of our top picks if we're allowed to take any car in the Hoonigan garage for a week.